Credence
by Amentet
Summary: A Marine survives a mission gone terribly wrong only to be forced to put their trust in an unlikely partner to survive. May contain violence, language, and adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I am not new to fanfiction, but I am new to this site. This is also my first jaunt into the Predator/Alien genre, but I've always been a huge Predator/Alien fan (Just ask my friends and family...I'm a bit obsessive, lol). I always welcome constructive criticism so don't hesitate to tell me what you think. Please feel free to correct me or offer advice. I won't be in the least bit offended. This story will be rated M for language, violence, and other mature sitations in the future. That being said, I hope you get at least a small bit of enjoyment out of this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Aliens or Predator. I only own my own original characters. **

**Amentet**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Chapter 1

The once bustling space station was now essentially sitting dead in the water. The passageways once filled with chatty, smiling scientists running to and fro conducting their research now resembled the inside of a mausoleum. Its functionality lost, this place would now serve as a grim warning to others as to why man shouldn't meddle in things they don't truly understand.

The main power had finally given out not long ago. It would have been pitch black inside the tiny control room were it not for the dull red lighting being put out by the back up system. Perhaps mercifully, the power outage had also cut off the horror show that had been broadcasting over the security monitors for the past few hours. Thank God for small miracles...

"We can't stay here."

The woman jumped at the voice but continued to huddle in a darkened corner of the cramped space, staring absently at the floor in front of her. She was seemingly oblivious to the man who had just addressed her.

"Did you here me?" Capt. Tamarr Watts kneeled down in front of his colleague. He leaned in close, snapping his fingers in front of her nose. "Melissa?"

The young woman cringed as she pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and shook her head vigorously back and forth. Negative. She would rather stay here locked in this room and die of starvation or suffocation or even stark raving lunacy than go back out there. She would not be venturing back outside beyond the relative safety of the four walls currently surrounding her. Nope, she liked her insides right where they were, on her inside.

"Mel..." Watts gently pulled her hands away from her face. "We have to go..."

"GO WHERE?!" Lt. Melissa Harris balled her hands into fists and slammed them into her thighs. "Everyone is dead...they're all fucking dead..." Her voice trailed off once again into tears.

Watts rocked back on his heels, rubbing a hand across his chin and ignoring the woman's outburst. He nodded to himself. "We can get outta here. We just have to get to the docking level and find a ship. Its only two decks down. We can make it."

Melissa threw her head back and laughed. It was a cold laugh, devoid of any real humor. "Only two decks down? You really think we're gonna get outta here?" She struggled to her feet and lurched across the small room to stare into the darkened monitors. "You saw them...we-we watched..." She pointed a shaking finger at the darkened screen. "We watched them all die..." Her entire body shuddered violently.

Watts stood then and carefully approached the woman. She hadn't been quite right since watching one of those alien larva chew their way out of Major Sandoval's chest cavity the day before. He turned her around to face him, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders. "Listen, Mel, I know this is some heavy shit, but I need you to get your head together for me. Alright?" He pulled her to his chest in an attempt to soothe her. "If we stay here, they're eventually gonna find us. We need to move."

Melissa mumbled against his shoulder, shaking her head weakly. Her tears soaked through the fabric of his uniform shirt. "I don't want to die. Not like this. Please..."

"Shh..." Watts rubbed her back between her shoulder blades. "You're not gonna die. We're gonna go down there and commandeer us a ship and you're gonna fly us the hell out of here. That's what you're gonna do." He pulled back to look at the woman.

She was young, only 22, and fresh out of the academy. What she lacked in age, she made up for in ability. She was a damn good pilot. He had been lucky to get her. Watts was certain Harris hadn't envisioned anything like this happening when she had joined the Corp. Hell, he was a seasoned veteran and he was still trying to wrap his mind around the situation. If anyone had told him he would be running around a space station like a pig in a slaughterhouse trying to avoid being flayed open by monsters, he wouldn't have believed it either.

Watts sighed as he stepped away from the woman all together to look at the barricaded exit. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather try my luck out there in the open than wait for them to come beat down this door."

Melissa seemed to startle a bit, her eyes widening at the images his words caused to play through her mind: claws, fangs, acidic blood, the rending of flesh. Deep down, she knew Watts was right. They couldn't stay here forever if they had any hope to survive. The Marine in her, thankfully, chose to rear its head. They needed to focus on an exit strategy. She nodded her head in agreement. "Okay..."

Watts looked back toward the woman. At least he had gotten her attention. He gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "Okay." Kneeling, he began to gather their equipment off the floor.

Melissa tried hard to push aside all the death, all the horror she had been witness to over the past 24 hours. Still, her mind kept conjuring images of black, snapping jaws full of serrated teeth and the silent, shimmering assassin that stalked the hallways. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed her shaking hands to her temples, willing the visions to leave her. Her eyes quickly snapped open again as Watts thrust her body armor toward her.

"You gonna be alright?" Watts looked the woman over. She seemed to have come to her senses if only a bit. He only hoped she could hold it together long enough for them to get off this God forsaken space station.

Melissa's lip quivered as she stared down at her equipment. Quickly stamping down the emotions that threatened to surface, she began to sort through her gear. "Let's just get the fuck out of here."

Watts reached out to squeeze her upper arm. Good enough for him. He motioned to her armor. "Put that shit back on. Strap it tight...lock down your face guard. I'll be damned if we end up being alien fuck toys."

Melissa nodded as she cinched her heavy flak vest around her midsection. She took a deep, shaking breath before strapping on her helmet and latching the dark tinted, polymer face guard in place. Picking up her discarded rifle from the floor, she snapped her last magazine into place. She only had twenty rounds left and two decks to transverse. She hoped it would be enough.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

He watched and waited, cloaked in the shadows of the dimly lit passageway. The two oomans would have to come out eventually...he hoped. When they did, they would no doubt draw the remaining kainde amedha to themselves. His plan was to dispose of the remaining hard meat as he had been tasked to do and hopefully, if the oomans were in any condition, he would get to spend a little 'quality time' with them as well.

What could possibly be better than hunting oomans and hard meat at the same time? He couldn't think of much that compared. Taking a mate perhaps, but there would be plenty of time for that later. He would have more than his fair share of wet, willing females spreading themselves for him once he returned from this hunt.

A lustful purr escaped him at the thought. Trophies or no, he wouldn't have anything to worry about. He had never suffered from a lack of mating partners. He was greatly sought after, a highly honored hunter in his prime: strong, virile, and deadly. It also didn't hurt that he possessed the physical attributes females found highly desirable in a mate and wished to pass on to their pups. He was always more than happy to oblige them.

The door to the room where the oomans had hid themselves hissed open tearing his thoughts away from naked, writhing females. He watched curiously as the first ooman eased its way out into the corridor. It took a couple steps, glancing around cautiously, before motioning for the other one to join it. A second, smaller ooman shuffled out behind the first, clutching its weapon to its chest.

The larger of the two seemed to be in charge. The big one communicated with the smaller through a series of hand gestures. The smaller seemed to understand what the other wanted and nodded its helmet covered head in agreement. Interested as to what they could be planning, he crept closer to the pair, careful not to bring attention to himself...yet.

Following at a distance, he watched as the oomans moved as a pair purposefully down the corridor. The larger one took the dominant position leading the way, while the smaller one was tasked guarding the area behind them from a rear attack. The hunter rumbled with approval at their tactic. They could be an interesting pair. He decided he would continue to observe them. They would make fine trophies for his collection if they lived up to his expectations...if the hard meat didn't get them first.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**'**__Damned if you do, damned if you don't...either way, you're fucked.' _Melissa warily continued to back down the passageways behind Capt. Watts. She kept her rifle raised and her finger poised on the trigger, ready to let loose a barrage at the mere hint of danger.

So far, they had managed to utilize a ventillaton shaft to descend to the deck below the control room they had been holed up in. It had been an eerily quiet passage. There had not been so much as a glimpse of the horrific alien monstrosities that infested the place. There had, however, been bodies. Too many bodies.

Marine and scientist alike lay littered around the floor like broken toys. Some had obviously succumbed to the bugs, others she guessed had fallen to that other _thing _running loose. Melissa couldn't say for sure what it was, but it had taken on bug and human alike with devastating results. She had only glimpsed it on the monitors a time or two before the power went out: a ripple in the air, a shimmer in the corner of a room. The end result was always the same, whatever was foolish enough to get in it's way was swiftly dispatched.

Watts suddenly stopped causing Melissa to bump into him. "Wait."

Melissa looked back over her shoulder. "What is it?"

"There's something down there." Watts could just make out the shape of something moving through the darkness of the passageway ahead. The shape of the silhouette's oblong head told him everthing he needed to know. "Fuck! Its one of them..."

Melissa squeezed her eyes shut. "Goddamn it...Tamarr..."

"Shh...easy, Mel." Watts looked down at his rifle and checked his clip. "Its only one. We can take it. How are you on ammo?"

Melissa's finger tightened ever so slightly on the trigger. "I've got 20."

"I've got 14." Tamarr turned his head to look back at his partner. "We need to make every round count. We still have a ways to go, alright?"

Melissa nodded. "Right..."

"C'mon." Watts began his slow trek down the passageway toward the roaming monster. "We're gonna fuck this bitch up."

A pained grin stretched Melissa's lips as she followed her superior down the hallway, her rifle poised to fire. She muttered quitely under her breath, "Hoorah."

To be continued...

**Just a short little something to get things rolling. **

**Till next time,**

**Amentet**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: It took a while but I finally got an update posted. I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alien's or Predator.**

"Aim for the head. Stay clear of the tail and watch out for blood splatter. That shit will eat a hole right through you." Watts instructed his partner in hushed whispers as they drew nearer to the alien monstrosity. "And Mel..." He paused to glance over his shoulder at the woman. "If anything should happen I want you to haul ass. Get to a ship and get the fuck out of here. Understood?"

Harris nodded, her eyes wide behind her dark face guard and focused on the creature slinking down the hallway ahead of them. "Yes, Sir."

Satisfied, Watts resumed their trek. Amazingly enough, the creature had yet to give any indication that it knew the two Marines were trailing it. Tamarr cursed softly as the beast turned a corner into what had been the mess hall and disappeared from sight. "Shit...Let's just put this bitch down and get the fuck out of here. "

The two eased around the corner as a pair, rifles ready to fire at... Nothing. The monster had simply vanished it seemed. The mess hall was completely deserted except for the mangled bodies of those not lucky enough to escape the initial onslaught hours ago. The corpses were strewn across the tables and littering the ground like discarded garbage.

Nervous now, Tamarr glanced around the eerily quiet room. "Where the fuck did it go?"

Melissa shook her head. "I don't like this. Let's just go. Fuck the bug. We're almost to the docks." The woman had begun to back slowly toward the doorway. Her eyes darted around the room frantically as they searched for any type of movement. Her finger tightened instinctively on the trigger of her rifle. "Please, Tamarr..."

"Yeah..." Watts nodded in agreement. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." He took one last sweeping glance at the room before moving in the same direction as his partner. "Fuck this."

Everything suddenly seemed to speed up. Melissa barely had time to comprehend what was happening. One moment she was looking at Watts coming toward her. The next she was watching the ceiling over her partner practically explode as the bug came crashing down on top of him, knocking him to the ground and pinning him. The fucking thing had apparently managed to haul itself up into the vents.

"TAMARR!" Her trigger finger flexed slightly but she was unwilling to fire out of fear for her partner. If she did shoot the thing, the cascade of acidic blood would spell death for her superior. "FUCK!"

Tamarr struggled desperately under the weight of the alien holding him down. Its jaws snapped viciously only inches from his helmet-covered face. His arms strained painfully as he tried to hold it off. "SHOOT THE FUCKER, HARRIS!"

"I CAN'T!" Mel felt close to tears. "THE BLOOD…." Melissa knew very well the consequences of shooting the monster. She had witnessed first hand what their caustic bodily fluids could do to human flesh. It would eat Tamarr alive.

"FUCKING SHOOT THIS BITCH!" Tamarr barely moved his head out of the way in time to avoid being impaled through his face guard by the thing's thrashing tail.

"GET OUT FROM UNDER IT!" Melissa was crying now. She could feel the tears streaming down her face behind her mask. "I CAN'T SHOOT IT WITH YOU THERE!"

Tamarr tried to roll out from under the beast but it held him firmly. He screamed as the monster raked its claws across his chest, slashing open the heavy body armor and sinking it's talons into his flesh. Saliva dripped from its mouth and splattered across the protective polymer that hid his face. The creature whipped its tail around once more with deadly intent.

Tamarr wasn't fast enough to move out of the way this time. The creature reared up off of him slightly and the barbed tip sank into his abdomen eliciting another agonizing scream from the man.

"Oh, God..." Mel felt paralyzed to do anything other than watch the scene play itself out. If she shot the creature, the blood would kill him. If she didn't shoot the creature, its claws and teeth would surely finish the man off. The urge to sink to the ground and curl up into the fetal position was so strong that she almost dropped her rifle. It wasn't until the creature cruelly ripped its tail out of Tamarr and turned its oblong head in her direction that she was able to move.

The creature hissed at her as it propelled itself forward. Its eyeless head cocked to one side in which might have been an amusing look of curiosity were it not for the exposed razor-sharp fangs and ropes of saliva that dangled from its maw. Throwing its head back, it roared as it continued to advance on the woman.

"Mel..." Tamarr stirred slightly. Blood poured freely from his wound, weakening him with every passing second. "Kill it, Mel...kill the fucker..."

The man's voice snapped her back into reality. Rage overtook Harris as she let loose a blood curdling scream and clamped her finger down on the trigger. Her scream however, was drowned out by those of the monster as the rounds made contact with its armor-like flesh.

Acidic blood spewed forth from the holes the hollow-tipped rounds punched in the creature. The caustic substance immediately went to work melting a hole through whatever it made contact with. The stench was almost enough to make Harris retch but still she kept firing. She fired until her clip was empty. She fired until the creature fell to the ground and stopped moving.

Her shoulders heaved. Her head pounded in time to her furiously beating heart. She crept toward the immobile beast and nudged it with the toe of her boot. When it made no move to rip her leg off she quickly moved to her partner's side.

"Oh, God...Tamarr..." Melissa pressed her hands to the wound on his stomach in a vain attempt to staunch the flow of blood. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

"No, no, no..." Tamarr, despite his dark skin, had paled considerably. He managed a weak chuckle. "Don't be sorry, Mel. There's too many sorry motherfuckers in the world as it is...This was my fault...should've...should've just...got to the ship..."

"I'm gonna get you out of here. We just have to make it to the docks..." Melissa tried to pull the dead weight of the man up off the floor. "There's another research outpost not far from here. They have a full medical team. They'll fix you..."

The sudden sound of scurrying feet approaching caused the woman to jump quickly to her feet. She clutched her empty rifle to her chest. "Oh, shit..."

"There's more coming..." Tamarr let out a racking cough that brought up blood. "Get out of here."

Mel looked down at the man desperately. Her mind worked feverishly to come up with some sort of plan that would save them both. "I can't leave you...they'll kill you."

Watts laughed weakly and motioned toward the gaping hole in his middle. "I'm already dead...I'd...never make it. I'd just slow you down..."

"No." Melissa shook her head. She didn't believe she would be able to survive on her own. Not alone. Not like this. Not in this place.

"I'm not asking you to leave me, Harris..." The man's eyes fluttered as he struggled to remain conscious. "I'm ordering you. Get the fuck out."

The sounds outside the mess hall drew nearer. The sound of claws striking tiling and the snapping of teeth echoed down the hallway announcing the approaching monsters. The woman looked desperately from the man to the doorway. She wanted to leave more than anything, but was reluctant to abandon the man that had gone through this hell with her.

Tamarr gripped the woman's ankle. "What the fuck are you waiting for?"

Mel looked back down at him. She wished they weren't wearing their helmets so that she could see his face. A hissing sound caused her head to snap back toward the doorway. Her heart leaped into her throat. Two bugs, in all their horrifying glory, stood imposingly in the door frame.

"GO!"

She turned and ran at the sound of Tamarr's voice. The clattering of the monstrous beings giving chase spurred her on faster as she ran full tilt toward the galley area where the cooks had once held domain. She skid around a corner and turned down a narrow passageway. There was an open area a little ways down just passed a walk-in freezer that led to another exit. She just had to get there.

Her breath came in labored gasps. She could hear the creatures getting closer. She could almost imagine their hot, rancid breath on the back of her neck. As the exit came into view she imagined that the doors glittered as they beckoned her to safety. Pushing herself to move faster, she rushed toward the doors at full speed, prepared to fling them open and make her escape...

It was like running into a brick wall. She looked up in a daze as she suddenly found herself sprawled on her back. The glittery, shimmery shape that hovered over her shifted slightly allowing her make out the faint outline of what looked like a man...an extremely large man.

"Oh, my God..." Recognition flooded through Melissa as she realized she was looking at the 'thing' she had glimpsed on the monitors before the power had gone out.

A clicking growl issued from the shape. Mel didn't have time to scream before she felt herself being hauled roughly to her feet and slammed into a wall. The feeling of a large hand encircling her throat caused panic to rise in her. She squinted her eyes to try to get a better visual of the phantom that pinned her to the wall through the shifting kaleidoscope of colors as they moved.

A screeching sound caught the attention of both the captor and the captive as the bugs came sliding around the corner. They paused at the end of the hallway for only a moment as if assessing the situation before rushing toward the terrified Marine who seemed to be suspended from mid air.

Melissa was certain her time had come to join her fallen comrades in death. Between the ghost-like thing that held her and the two monstrosities running towards her there didn't seem to be another option. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

To be continued...

**I hope to get the next chapter up a bit faster than I did this one. Till next time...**

**Amentet**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alien's or Predator. I only own my own characters. **

XXXXXXXXXX

For one surreal moment, Melissa felt herself dangling helplessly in the clutches of the phantom that held her. The invisible hand around her throat seemed to be intent on squeezing the very life out of her. It was her belief that death was a certainty. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she actually felt some strange sense of relief knowing that she wouldn't meet her end at the hands of the bugs that infested the station. Perhaps, she mused as consciousness threatened to leave her, this was the Universe's way of showing her mercy.

The next moment, however, she found herself flying through the air. She had already crashed into the opposite wall in the time it took her to realize that her captor had flung her aside like a doll. The harsh impact knocked the wind out of her, leaving her gasping for breath behind her polymer face shield as she crumpled to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

The crackling sound of electricity roused her partly out of her stupor in time to see the shape that had held her moving off in the direction of the two quickly approaching bugs. Arcs of what looked like blue lightening seemed to ripple across the shape's form as what she could only guess was some kind of camoflauge melted away revealing a large, powerful-looking humanoid figure. She could only see its broad, muscled back as it prepared to square off against the two ebony monsters but of one thing she was certain: It was nothing she had ever seen before.

Using the wall next to her for leverage, Melissa managed to haul herself unsteadily to her feet. She snatched up her empty rifle which had clattered to the floor when she had run head on into the the creature and clutched it to her chest as if it were the only thing anchoring her to reality. It was more or less useless without bullets but it's reassuring weight in her hands gave her more confidence to do what needed to be done.

A thunderous roar pulled her attention back to the scene still playing out in the passageway. She observed from what she hoped was a safe distance as the creature pulled what looked like a short stick off his belt which immediately telescoped into a spear-like thing three times it's original length. She watched in awe as the creature easily impaled the closest monstrosity, jerking upwards on the spear, opening the bug's belly and causing it's entrails to splatter onto the floor in a steaming pile.

"Oh, God..." The malodorous stench of the thing's festering organs hit Melissa's nose causing her stomach to heave. Clamping her mouth shut and forcing the bile back down she turned away from the scene. She needed to get out of here and to the docks. Now. Before the creature dispatched the other bug and decided to turn it's attention back on her.

Before she realized it she was out the doors and running in the direction of the cargo lift that would take her to the shuttle bay. The screeches and roars of the two alien species battling each other to the death echoed down the passageway behind her. She only hoped the monsters could keep each other occupied long enough to allow her to escape.

XXXXXXXXXX

The first hard meat had gone down much too easily for his liking. The second, however, seemed to have a bit more fight in it. He rumbled his approval as the creature swung its barbed tail around in his direction seemingly angered by the death of its hive mate. He rolled out of the way quickly and, coming up into a crouch, caught the hard meat's tail on the upswing. With one powerful tug he knocked the creature off balance and it fell, thrashing, onto its back.

Moving almost lightening fast, he was on his feet again. The struggling hard meat managed to right itself and lunged at him, clawed fingers slashing and jaws snapping. Twisting out of its reach he brought his spear down hard on the back of the thing's neck earning a pained hiss from the black monster. As much as he was enjoying himself, he needed to end this. There were other matters that demanded his attention. Drawing his spear back again, he prepared to deliver the death blow.

His spear, made of a special alloy that was nearly impervious to the hard meat's acidic compostion, punctured the alien's armor-like hide, slicing through its internals and causing it to flail about as it struggled to get away. It only succeeded in embedding the tip further into its insides.

Ripping his spear out of the hard meat's side, he plunged it back into the creature's snapping maw. There was a crunching sound as the end of the spear found its way into the hard meat's cranial cavity. The hunter gave a satisfied rumble as the creature's body went lax and it stopped moving all together.

He quickly retracted his spear, shaking off the loose bits of gore that clung to it. He admired his kills for a moment, then, stepping away from the corpses, he turned back to where he had left the unconscious ooman. His eyes, hidden behind his bio-mask, quickly searched the length of the passageway.

"C'jit."

The ooman was gone.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Come on, come on, come on..." Melissa slammed her hand repeated down on the call button for the cargo lift, both cursing it and encouraging it all in the same breath. Still, the industrial elevator seemed intent on taking its sweet time. "Come on, you piece of shit..."

She shifted anxiously from foot to foot as she watched the deck indicator sluggishly announce that there were still six levels to go before the lift reached her. "Goddamn it..."

There was a creaking above her. She quickly spun and pressed her back against the wall. Her eyes, wide behind her face guard, were trained on the ceiling tiles. The incident with Tamarr was still fresh in her mind. She whimpered and tightened her grip on her empty rifle. This was exactly why she had wanted to stay in the tiny control room. She didn't want to be out here alone...with _them_.

With the slithery sound over her head drawing all her attention, she was oblivious to the large obsidian-colored body that slinked around the corner until it had plowed into her from the side, knocking her to the ground and pinning her there. She couldn't even scream as the moster settled on her chest making it impossible to draw a breath. As the creature loomed over her, poised to attack, she found herself wondering just where the Universe's mercy was when you needed it.

**To be continued...**

**I hope that wasn't too disappointing for the people who have PM'd me asking for an update. I tried...I really did. Sorry for the wait. I'll try to do better. Feedback is always appreciated. **

**Tet**


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